Archive for May, 2007

What is the deal these days? It is as if any sort of backbone that America had was thrown away. People these days in America, and the world for that matter, simply have no backbone or, to put it more bluntly, no cajonies. They are offended at everything, never want to take a stand and simply let people walk all over them.

These days a big personification of a Wuss is the President himself. George W. Bush. The guy can’t seem to do anything without apologizing for it. The Liberals will out and out lie about him and he does nothing. In fact, he usually just apologizes for nothing. Take the current flap about Federal Attorneys. So he fired them. SO WHAT? Clinton fired ALL of them. A President can do that. What did Bush do? He apologized for how it was done. Illegal immigration? Bush talks about amnesty. Sandy Berger steals top secret documents from the Federal archives and Bush does nothing and says nothing. Get some balls Mr. President.

Liberals are not much better. They only want appeasement for anything and everything. Clinton pretty much did nothing whenever we were attacked in the 90’s. Bin Laden even said that because of what the U.S. did not do in the 90’s was why he saw attacking us as the perfect opportunity. He knew that these days the U.S. is just a bunch of wimps. The first sign of trouble in a conflict and Liberals want to surrender. They are worse than France!

Jimmy Carter has turned into probably the biggest Wus of all the Presidents. No dictator can do anything wrong. He goes and has tea with Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-Il, among others. We all saw how well Carter handled the Iranian Hostage crises.

The media plays a big part in this as well. 15 British sailors are kidnapped by Iraq and do you see the media saying anything negative about them? They are praising Ahmadinejad and the Iranian people. Not a thing was said of Iran’s violation of the Geneva Convention. The media also never seem to condemn anyone. Shortly after 9/11, Reuters news service announced they would no longer use the term “Terrorist” when talking about, well, Terrorists. What a joke.

Speaking of those 15 sailors….what did Britain do? NOTHING. Tony Blair = WUSS. The Islamic Terrorists around the world are going to get more and more emboldened and know they can do pretty much anything and the rest of the world will do nothing.

Now, with all that being said, I am not advocating war or aggression for no reason but come on…can’t we at least say SOMETHING and not just get walked all over by everyone? Can we at least speak softly but carry a big stick instead of apologizing for talking too loud and then appease appease appease?

I didn’t mean for this post to be so political, I wanted to write more about things in every day life as well. I mean, they seem to call counselors into schools and work places at the drop of a hat. Suck it up!!! These days people go see Shrinks as much as they change their underwear. I’m not saying they aren’t needed…at times…but it has been taken to excess. These days if you DON’T have some “problem”, “issue” or “wound” and go to a shrink and get drugged up then you are not normal. If you do mess up all you have to do is apologize, cry, go to rehab and then admit that you were bullied on the playground when you were little and you get a pass. HEY! Suck it up, take some responsibility and move on. The world doesn’t revolve around you!!

TV is not much better. People don’t like it when Simon is so mean to people on American Idol. Hey, if they suck, they suck. Deal with it. The very fact that so many people get caught up and sucked into watching this show says a lot about our society. It says, in big lavender letters, GAY! (Don’t anyone say anything about me watching America’s Next Top Model either because there are hot chicks on that show!) 😉

There is a phrase I use with my kids all the time. “Dry it up”. They fall down and start crying I first make sure they are not hurt then I tell them to dry it up. I don’t rush over and make a big fuss over them and coddle them. I am hard on my kids. I push them to go beyond what they think they are capable of. I want them to look back when they are older and know that I pushed them to exceed. I tell the story often that when my daughter was 2 or 3 she didn’t want to go down a slide. I made her because I knew she would have fun. She was scared but then loved it. I did the same thing when teaching her to read. When she wanted to stop I kept going. I showed her what was beyond her limits. I expect a lot out of her and don’t apologize for it. As I said before in my overprotective parents blog it’s the feminization of our society approach that I don’t want to see come near my kids. Go mess someone else’s kids up.

These same wimps want to get rid of things like Dodge Ball or even Tag at school. My friend at work said he can’t even cheer for his kid as his little league game because they don’t want to create a “negative atmosphere”. In fact, some cities are banning “chatter”at baseball games so you can’t yell the old “Heeeeeeyyyy Batter Batter Batter SWING Batter!”. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! That has Liberal weenie written all over it. The same wimps who say things like “Everyone is a winner so let’s not keep score” or “there are no losers so everyone gets a trophy!”. These are probably the same people who want to stop having a Valedictorian or a Salutatorian at graduations.

So, let’s all dry it up, get some balls and deal with these things as they should be. If we don’t, if we keep going down this road, in 20 years we will have no country to call home because we will have given it over to Islamic fascism and wimps because we simply don’t want to offend anyone.

***UPDATE***

Now, over in Britian they are proposing that kids don’t raise hands to answer questions in class. Education Secretary said “We need to make sure that no one is left behind at any point…” Yeah, that’s right. Don’t praise kids who study and are actually smart! What a joke. Remember, it’s all about “fairness”.

Ok, I am sick of this phrase that has turned into a cliche. Why is it that people love to tear America down? They whine and complain and blame and pout and pass laws and make you feel guilty for anything and everything. It’s all bad. After every bad thing that happens, whether it be a shooting like V Tech or some wacko group that does something, the question is always asked “What is wrong with America?”.

Politicians on both sides of the isle play this up big time around election time. No matter how great something is they will point out SOMETHING about it that is bad. Liberals love to bring America down. It makes them feel good about themselves. That is true with many people though. Bringing someone else down in the hopes it will make you shine. John Kerry and Bill Clinton love to go over to other countries and rip America and American values. What is wrong with these people?

Question asked to GOP Presidential Candidates at last debate: “What do you dislike most about America.” ???????

Now, am I the only one who is sick of the whining by the media and the Liberals on gas prices? Every year we hear the same thing “By July the average price will be over $4.00” and it never is. I predict this year will be the same thing…it will not get to a $4.00 national average.

Anyway, back to the gist of things…I am just tired of hearing about gouging and profits and rip offs and all that garbage. Let’s get the facts right shall we? First of all, someone simply raising their price on something is not gouging. In fact, I would submit that in a free market economy, gouging doesn’t exist at all. It’s simply the market dictating the price of a good. Supply and demand. If there is any gouging going on, it’s from State and Federal Govco and the taxes they add to everything under the sun. I would bet that Govco actually makes more money off a gallon of gas than the oil companies do. Ever look at home much you pay to Govco every time you fill up?

How about profits. If you listen to Hillary, she wants to take the profits from the oil companies. Take their profits? Can someone explain capitalism to her? I wonder…if she also going to “take the profits” from Labor Unions? How about from Apple or Microsoft? Maybe she should take some of the profits she made on her books and her husbands speaker fees. How is making a profit wrong? Is GM wrong for trying to make a profit selling cars? While we’re at it, how about we get it right about what we are talking about. You hear the media talking all the time about the obscene profits oil companies are making but do you ever hear them talk about the profit margin? That is what one really needs to focus on. You can talk all day long about how Exxon‘s profits have doubled but what happened to their profit margin (if it really matters at all what a company makes when they are in the business of making money)? It’s sad how people can be so swayed but the rhetoric coming out of the slime in Washington. Really though, it’s even worst that people lack the education to understand the BS they are wading in.

Yet another thing we are hearing now is how new records are being set all the time in regards to prices. In inflation adjusted dollars we are STILL paying less than we did back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. You also hear the word “fair” being thrown around. Really? Just what exactly would be a “fair” price for gas? What is fair for you would be too high for me so just who should set that standard? Govco? Congrats! You go to the head of the class of Socialism 101 with Liberal Democrats.

Speaking of Liberals, if you want to point to a reason for prices being high, they can be first on your list. Who keeps blocking attempts to drill for oil? Who backs the EPA in their ridiculous standards? Who opposes building more refineries? You can thank your local Liberal for that as well.

I hate paying more for something but I learn to live with it. It also really bugs me that concert tickets keep going up and up and up (you can thank the Eagles for that…but we can discuss that at a later date) but you know what…the bottom line is that it’s business. It’s supply and demand. As long as we choose to pay it, as long as we choose to buy hummers and Navigators, as long as we keep electing officials who refuse to admit that we live in a oil consuming world, we will keep paying higher prices for gas.

So, with all that being said, can we get a moratorium on the lies and the whining and the sob stories of higher gas prices and just get an education on things. Or, better yet, just create your own blog and rant and rave like I do! J

In the news recently I read that about a school in California where test scores were low. Teachers decided to spend the 1/2 hour of lesson planning they got at the end of the day for additional teaching of language skills as many of the students did not speech English. Well, guess what? The unions didn’t like it one bit. For one thing, the teachers were not getting paid for that half hour of teaching. Also, they have certain laws regarding one teacher working more than another teacher.
What kind of BS is this??? This is exactly what is wrong with Unions. They reward medocricy. They punish hard work. They seek only one thing…power which is exactly why we need a moratorium on them.

Post Script to the story is that the Principal took a vote of all the Teachers to see if they wanted to continue with this. The vote had to be unanimous. It was. Every single Teacher voted to keep on with this “extra” teaching and they saw an improvement in test scores and grades.

You know, I gotta tell ya, that is the worst thing you can hear in a store while waiting in line to pay. What it is code for is “Let’s make sure we make these customers wait just a bit longer!!!” Now, just hearing that over the loud speaker is not what is so bad. What really grinds on my nerves is that when the CSM comes over, most of the time…in fact probably 99.9% of the time, they don’t even look or ask what is wrong. They just come over, punch some keys on the register or insert their key and then leave. Now, hear me out here. If they don’t even care what the override is for, why even have an override? Why not just empower the cashier to be able to do that override?

Let’s get a moratorium on cashiers not having enough power to get us out of the store faster. Better yet, if more stores would have the self-check out system that Wal-Mart, Lowes and other stores have thing would be sooooooo much better!!!

Posted in Cashier, CSM, Empowerment | Comments Off on “I need a CSM to register 12 for an override please.”

From seatbelt laws to motorcycle helmets to forcing public businesses to ban smoking our precious government is fast becoming our own personal Nanny and I for one am tired of it. When in the world did it become Govcos right to tell us how to live? I’ll tell you when…it was when we gave up our personal responsibility and decided to let Govco run our lives since it was much easier that way. It began when Special Interest Groups took control in Washington. It began when we became too lazy to even care.

We live in a great country where we have so much freedom including the freedom to be stupid. If I choose to not wear a seatbelt, where does that freedom infringe on your freedom? It doesn’t. Now, don’t give me the whole “public safety” or “insurance rates” crap. First of all, if it was really about public safety, Govco would insist that we all wear helmets while driving as well as not go over 20 mph. You ever think about that? Govco says that wearing seatbelts is the law because of safety. Why then don’t they make you wear a helmet as well? That would be safe wouldn’t it? Or how about making it really hurt and taking your car away if you don’t wear one? Also, in regards to the lame excuse of “Well, health insurance rates would go up”, Govco should never be in the business of price controls. What an insurance company chooses to charge should in no way be affected by Govco. All it is is just a way for Politicians to look good and to raise money.

The list goes on and on…talking on a cell phone while driving, curbing obesity, shutting down Internet gambling sites, federalizing local issues such as medical marijuana or drinking ages, curbing alcohol consumption, expanding the FCC’s power to include cable TV and Satellite radio, violent video games, etc….. it all is part of Govo saying they know how to raise our kids and run our lives better then we do. Actually, to get right down to it, it’s just another form of Socialism. That would indicate, to many, that it is the Liberals who are mostly behind much of this but sadly the “Conservatives” such as Bush and other GOP leaders are right up there with the other Commies in Washington who think they know how to run our lives better then we do.

Ronald Reagan said it well in that:

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”

Henry Louis Mencken said it even better:

“The kind of man who wants the government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic.”

Now, I am not saying we could do better with no Govco. Not at all. What I am saying is exactly what our founding fathers wanted and that is limited. A government that serves at the will of the people, not the other way around. How about a 50 year moratorium on any new laws by Govco telling us how to live or how to raise our kids.

This is not really a moratorium but more of an observation. Why is it that the majority of overwight or just plain big (as in musular) men have goatees? Ever notice that? Also, how many bald men grow goatees? The numbers are up there. Next time you are out at the mall, take a look around (isn’t it fun to people watch?) and see how many big or bald men have a goatee.

Have you noticed that in the past, if you did something wrong, your Parents or Teachers took you to task for it. They punished you. It was YOUR responsibility and YOUR fault. These days, they don’t focus on the what. Instead, they want to figure out why. They don’t blame you, they try to point the finger somewhere else. Individualism is now dead. Personal responsibility and accountability has left the building.

For example, 19 Terrorists fly our planes into buildings killing thousands and the media elite ask why they hate us. Try these other ones on for size:

A thug kills two Police Officers and the local newspaper blames the fact that he lived in a poor community and Section 8 housing.

A couple of demented kids go on a shooting rampage in a school and the media blames bullies, cliques and guns.

A drunk driver kills a family and the bar he was at is blamed.

A perp kidnaps and assaults a child and the Shrinks blame past abuse or wound he suffered.

Hundreds of school buses sat underwater because the Mayor did not dispatch them to evacuate New Orleans residents before a hurricane hits and the Liberals blame George W. Bush.

Now, I don’t think we should not try to figure out the why sometimes in order to avoid future problems however it is not the main issue nor the most important issue. Also, above all else, let’s not exonerate the person responsible. Let’s lay the blame squarely where it belongs.

I remember so well when I was a kid and got in trouble I would try to come up with every excuse. Most of them were lies but some were true. In those days, my parents made ME feel guilty. They didn’t try to excuse the behavior or rationalize it away. They made sure I knew that it was MY responsibility. These days, many parents feel guilty and wring their hands over what horrible parents they are if their kid does something wrong. They pull their hair out and blame themselves instead of turning around and putting the blame on their kid. They go and drug their kids up or send them to a Shrink instead of dealing with the problem. These days in fact, Shrinks are all the rage. Shrinks and drugs. I love the quote: “Conservatives go to church, Liberals go to Shrinks.”

Yes, I acknowledge that some past experiences or this or that contribute to certain mistakes however, when the day is done and everyone has gone to bed, the bottom line is that the person who did the deed is the one to blame. Not same lame ass excuse or pyschobabble or George W. Bush or anything else.

Isn’t it though? It sucks to get old. I know, I know, I am only 36 but still….you can feel it in your bones you when you get up. You can sense it in your mind when you can’t recall things you used to be able to so easily. You feel it in your ego when you no longer get carded when buying alcohol. It just really is a drag. You can’t stay up as late nor get up as early (or, it’s just more difficult). You slowly watch your hair disappear your weight go up. It sucks I tell ya!!

It’s not just your body either. You start to talk like your parents and say things such as “Wow, when I was your age…” or “Back in the day they never did this or that” or the worst “The music that young people listen to these days…”. You start to date yourself in conversations talking about cell phones, computers and television. You feel it when sports stars retire after a 20 yr career….they started when you were in High School!!

I do feel very fortunate however. I am very healthy, still have a lot of hair and am just 10lbs over my college weight which is really not that hard to maintain…but still…I feel it coming. Slowly but surly. I don’t mind the changes too much. They suck and all but what I really mind is how fast it goes! As Jackson Brown sings:

“In 69 I was 21 and called the road my own. I don’t know when that road turned onto the road I’m on.”

Where did it go?? It seriously does feel like just yesterday that I was jamming to Alice Cooper in my dorm room singing “Eighteen” and now I am 19 years from that moment. Heck, it seems like just yesterday I was bringing home my first born and now she is almost 6! It just zooms so fast. Screw “Sunrise Sunset”! It’s more like “Sunrise Noontime”!!!!

You know, as much as Mick and Keith have aged so well, I just hope I have their energy when I am 62 and can still tour the world and rock thru 3 hour shows every other night!